Drawn Nearer To God

I believe that many a time trouble and sorrow are permitted to come

to us that we may see the face of God, and be shut up to trust in

Him alone. But Abram went down into Egypt, and there he got into

trouble by denying his wife. That is the blackest spot on Abram's

character. But when we get into Egypt we will always be getting into

trouble.





II





Abram b came rich; but we don't hear of any altar--in fact, we hear

of no altar at Haran, and we hear of no altar in Egypt. When he came

up with Lot out of Egypt, they had great possessions, and they

increased in wealth, and their herds had multiplied, until there was

a strife among their herdsmen.



Now it is that Abram's character shines out again. He might have

said that he had a right to the best of everything, because he was

the older, and because Lot would probably not have been worth

anything if it had not been for Abram's help. But instead of

standing up for his rights, to choose the best of the land, he

surrenders them, and says to the nephew:



"Take your choice. If you go to the right hand, I will take the

left; or if you prefer the left hand, then I will go to the right."



Here is where Lot made his mistake. If there was a man under the sun

that needed Abram's counsel, and Abram's prayers, and Abram's

influence, and to have been surrounded by the friends of Abram, it

was Lot. He was just one of those weak characters that